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A Great Article About Bone Char Sugar.

By admin | November 16, 2009

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Is Your Sugar Vegan?

An Update on Sugar Processing Practices

By Jeanne Yacoubou, MS

IN 1997, THE VEGETARIAN RESOURCE GROUP

published an article on sugar refining, focusing

in particular on the char derived from cow bones

that is used as a filter to whiten cane sugar during the

refining process. In this report, The VRG revisits the

issue of bone char use in the sugar industry, examines

emerging practices for refining sugar, and discusses

alternatives to sugar refined with bone char.

WHERE THE SUGAR INDUSTRY STANDS

TODAY

The sugar industry’s practices haven’t changed much

over the past decade. The same large American cane

sugar companies that were operating then are still in

business and have bought out smaller operations in

the United States. There are a few small cane sugar

companies, but there are really only two large cane

sugar enterprises—Imperial/Savannah Foods (Dixie

Crystal) and Florida Crystals. Florida Crystals owns

American Sugar Refining (Domino Foods) as well as

the C&H Sugar Company, both of which now call

bone char “natural charcoal.”

The two major companies refine most of the sugar

sold on store shelves in the United States. The majority

of this sugar is produced and consumed domestically,

although some of the sugar sold by American Sugar

Refining is purchased from Australia or Brazil. (By

comparison, much of the sugar in packaged products

sold in the United States is imported.)

The U.S. companies still use cow bone char as

the preferred filter for cane sugar. The exception is a

plant that American Sugar Refining owns in Yonkers,

NY, which uses an ion exchange system that cost $30

million. Their refining process is quite different and

involves liquid sugar that cannot be filtered through

bone char. Jeffrey Robinson, Technical Director of

American Sugar Refining, said the Yonkers, NY, plant

is only the company’s fourth-highest producing plant

of five plants, yielding approximately 4 million pounds

of sugar per day. On another note, Paul Caulkins, the

Corporate Quality Assurance Manager of Imperial/

Savannah Foods, said his company is seriously looking

into overhauling its filtering system at a price tag of $25

million because there have been recent improvements

in ion exchange filter technology.

In 1997, The VRG reported that Refined Sugars,

Inc., maker of Jack Frost sugar, used granular carbon

instead of bone char. Refined Sugars was one of the

companies bought out by Domino, which uses bone

char for most of its sugars. (See the table on page 18

for the names of Domino’s non-organic and organic

brands that are not filtered through bone char.) Jack

Frost sugar is still being produced at their Yonkers plant.

It is available in New York and northern Pennsylvania

and constitutes approximately 0.5 percent of Domino’s

total sugar production.

Imperial Sugar produces a turbinado sugar that has

not been processed through bone char. The Imperial

Sugar Company is part owner of Wholesome Sweeteners,

which produces several brands of sweeteners that are

not filtered through bone char. (See table on page 18.)

VegNews published a 2006 article stating that a small

cane sugar company, U.S. Sugar Corporation, uses a

‘new’ sugar refining process that does not involve bone

char. U.S. Sugar has not responded to several phone

calls that The VRG has made regarding their cane

sugar refining process.

WHY BONE CHAR IN THE FIRST PLACE?

The average consumer’s love affair with white, sweet

foods prompted the sugar industry to develop a sugar

refining process that would yield ‘pure’ white crystals.

Hundreds of years ago, sugar refiners discovered that

bone char from cattle worked well as a whitening filter,

and this practice is now the industry standard.

Sugar cane has held an approximately 50 percent

market share of sugar in recent history, with sugar from

sugar beets taking the rest. Beet sugar is not refined

in the same way as cane sugar. Bone char filtering is

never used in beet sugar processing.

Unfortunately for consumers buying prepackaged,

sweetened foods or those eating out, it is difficult to

16 Issue Four 2007 VEGETARIAN JOURNAL

know the source of the white refined sugar that these

foods contain.

Consumers should be forewarned that making a

company inquiry will not usually resolve their concerns

because many manufacturers purchase both sugar produced

from sugar beets and sugar produced from sugar

cane. Robinson stated, “Common practice at many

manufacturers is to store refined sugar from both

sources in the same bin, thereby co-mingling the two.”

It is likely that a certain prepackaged or restaurant served

food may contain both cane and beet sugar.

Proportions of each in any given serving probably

vary over time.

THE EXACT ROLE OF BONE CHAR

IN SUGAR REFINING

A bone char filter acts like a crude filter and is most

often used first in cane sugar refining. To sugar scientists,

it is a ‘fixed bed adsorption’ filter, meaning that

particles unlike itself stick to it. It is also the most efficient

filter for removing colorants; the most frequently

found colorants are amino acids, carboxylic acids,

phenols, and ash.

The bone char is not as good at removing impurities

such as inorganic ions, so after being put through

bone char, sugar may be passed through activated charcoal

or an ion exchange system as well. The sugar also

goes through several different filters to remove larger

particles. Nevertheless, bone char filters are the most

efficient and most economical whitening filters, thereby

maintaining their position as the industry’s cane sugar

filter of choice.

Connie Hunter, Consumer Relations Specialist

for Domino Sugar and the C&H Sugar Company,

said the bones used to make bone char come from

“non-European cattle.” Robinson told us that American

Sugar Refining purchases its bone char from a Scottish

company, which did not respond to our inquiries.

He said that he has been told these bones come from

cattle that have died naturally in Brazil, India, Morocco,

Nigeria, and Pakistan. The bones are sun-dried and

incinerated for 12 hours at more than 700 degrees

Celsius. During the burning process, all organic matter

that may be present—including viruses, bacteria, and

proteins—is destroyed, leaving only an inert granular

substance that is 10 percent elemental carbon and 90

percent calcium hydroxyapatite.

The other major company that sells bone char to

the sugar industry is the American Charcoal Company,

which was started in 2002 and is located in Wyoming.

According to American Charcoal representative Craig

Giles, the company gets its bone char in ready-to-sell

form from Brazil’s cattle industry. Imperial/Savannah

Foods purchases its bone char from both the Scottish

company and American Charcoal.

HOW MUCH BONE CHAR IS USED?

Paul Caulkins, the Corporate Quality Assurance

Manager of Imperial/Savannah Foods, said that little

bone char can be obtained from a single cow “since

only the dense bones of the animal, such as the pelvic

bones, can be used.” After checking with his suppliers,

Caulkins informed us that “one cow averages 82 pounds

of total bone. About one-fourth to one-fifth of the total

weight (between 17 and 20 pounds per animal) is the

load-bearing bone used for char (due to its strength).

Since our yield conversion to char from that is approximately

50 percent, on average, one cow will produce

nine pounds of bone char.”

Sugar companies purchase large quantities of bone

char for several reasons, the first being the sheer size

of their operations. Large commercial filter columns

often measure 10 to 40 feet high and five to 20 feet

wide. Each column, which can filter 30 gallons of

sugar per minute for 120 hours at a time, may hold

70,000 pounds of char. If nine pounds of char is produced

by one cow and 70,000 pounds are needed to

fill a column, a simple math calculation reveals that

the bones of almost 7,800 cattle are needed to produce

the bone char for one commercial sugar filter. (We did

not receive a verification of this estimate from another

source.) Furthermore, each refining plant may have

several large filter columns.

Companies use up their supplies of bone char relatively

quickly. Since bone char is the first filter used

in the sugar refining process, its granules absorb large

amounts of colorants and impurities. This means that

the overall working life for bone char granules may be

“…those who wish to avoid

bone char processing

altogether (should) purchase

organic sugar and consume

foods that list only organic

sugar or evaporated cane

juice as sweeteners.”

VEGETARIAN JOURNAL Issue Four 2007 17

reduced significantly. In general, bone char may last

for five to 10 years, depending on the volume of raw

material filtered through it and the level of impurities

in the sugar. The bone char may be rejuvenated several

times by burning it at 9,500 degrees in a kiln for 20

minutes, but this typically occurs only once.

Over time, some of the char disintegrates and

becomes too small in particle size to filter anymore, so

that portion is screened off. Also, colorants and other

impurities begin to permanently fill the bone char’s

microscopic holes, compromising its effectiveness.

These impurities make the char heavy, and it can’t be

volatilized off when rejuvenated in a kiln. Even with the massive quantities of bone char that industries secure, these factors contribute to the need to replenish their bone char stores regularly.

At this time, the cane sugar industry believes that

only more cow bone char can fill the same roles as well

as bone char. Other technologies, such as reverse osmosis,

have been under study for a long time, but they

don’t perform as well as bone char does at the high

temperatures used in the refining process. Perhaps

by the time of our next update on the sugar industry,

bone char will no longer be a mainstay of sugar refining,

especially since Caulkins stated that the prices of

bone char, activated carbon, and ion exchange technologies

are comparable. What’s needed is improved technology,

consumer pressure on the industry to change

its refining methods, and the capital investment—a tall

order for now but maybe a reality one day.

ORGANIC SUGAR: ALWAYS BONE CHAR-FREE

The increasing popularity of organic foods in the United

States has bolstered the production of the organic sugar

industry. In fact, The VRG is happy to report that there

is a large market niche for organic sweeteners.

To maintain its organic integrity, organic sugar is

only minimally processed or not refined at all. Since

bone char is not on the National Organic Program’s

National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances,

certified USDA organic sugar cannot be filtered through

bone char. In fact, the technical directors of both

Imperial Sugar and American Sugar Refining told

us that organic sugars are only milled and never go

to the refinery where the bone char filters are located.

A common processing aid, lime, is used as a clarifying

agent in organic cane sugar processing, removing

cane fibers and field debris. Since lime is on the

National List, it can be used in organic sugar production.

However, because the lime itself is synthetic,

no organic sugar processed in this manner can ever

be certified 100% USDA Organic; the maximum

certification it can receive is 95% certified organic.

Consequently, any sugar-containing product made

with organic sugar can achieve only a 95% certified

organic rating.

There are a few organic clarifying agents, such as

the seeds of the drumstick tree (Moringa oleifera) and

the edible fruit of Cordia myxa, that could produce

100% certified organic sugar. However, Dr. Stephen

Clarke, Director of Technical Services at Florida

Crystals, said, “These aids are a substitute for the

polyacrylamide materials that we conventionally use

in clarification and not for the lime that is used for

pH adjustment. The ‘natural’ flocculants are basically

acidic polysaccharides extracted from succulent plants

similar to aloe.” Clarke informed The VRG that Florida

Crystals tested some organic clarifying agents approximately

two years ago, but their performance was “poor

and inconsistent.” He did say, “Although the potential

is there, the real problem is that another crop has to

be grown and processed.”

Another reason why bone char is not used in organic

sugar production is that its decolorizing function is

neither needed nor desired. U.S. organic laws do not

have any strict standards regarding the color of organic

sugar (like those that exist for conventional white sugar).

Unrefined sugar is naturally light tan to brown, and

the medium to darker colored sugars are often described

as ‘golden.’ “Retail customers seem to prefer this color

and associate it with a more natural, less processed

product,” stated Tom Hasenstaub, the Organic Program

Manager at Florida Crystals. He added that the natural

color of organic sugar “has been somewhat problematic

to certain industrial customers who are trying to formulate

organic processed products to emulate the color

profiles of their conventional products.”

At the present time, most organic sugar used in the

United States is imported from Paraguay, Brazil, and

Mexico. Florida Crystals is the only U.S. producer of

organic sugar, with approximately 4,000 acres of rotating

organic sugar cane and rice in production and an

additional 900 acres planned for the upcoming growing

season. However, this quantity meets only 20 percent

of U.S. demand. Approximately 80 percent of all

organic sugar produced in the U.S. is used in industries

manufacturing sugar-containing products, while 20

percent is purchased directly by consumers.

The table accompanying this article (page 18) lists

the brands of organic sweeteners that we have determined

to be bone char-free, based on correspondence

with the manufacturers.

18 Issue Four 2007 VEGETARIAN JOURNAL

Bone Char-Free Sugars

Produced by U.S. Companies

COMPANY BRAND NAME(S)

C&H Sugar C&H Pure Cane Washed Raw Sugar

C&H Pure Cane Certified Organic Sugar

Cumberland Packing Company Sugar in the Raw

Domino Sugar Domino Demerara Washed Raw Cane Sugar

Domino Pure Cane Certified Organic Sugar

Florida Crystals Florida Crystals Demerara Natural Sugar

Organic Evaporated Cane Juice (granulated

and powdered)

Golden Granulated Evaporated Cane Juice

Florida Crystals Milled Cane Natural Sugar

Florida Crystals Certified Organic Natural Sugar

Great Eastern Sun Sweet Cloud Organic Raw Cane Sugar

Hain Celestial Group Hain Organic Brown Sugar

Hain Organic Powdered Sugar

Shady Maple Farms Shady Maple Farms Granulated Maple Sugar

Tropical Traditions Rapadura Whole Organic Sugar

Wholesome Sweeteners Light Muscovado Sugar

Dark Muscovado Sugar

Sucanat (granulated and powdered)

Organic Sucanat (granulated and powdered)

NOTE: 100% Pure Beet Sugar is not passed through a bone char filter.

VEGETARIAN JOURNAL Issue Four 2007 19

Today in the United States, all organic sugar is

produced from sugar cane. According to Ruthann

Geib, the Vice President of the Sugar Beet Growers

Association, there is no organic sugar beet production

in the United States at this time. Clarke noted, “There

are no technical reasons preventing the production

of organic beet sugar; it has been done in Europe.”

WATCH OUT FOR BONE CHAR:

TIPS FOR CONSUMERS

On your next trip to the sugar aisle at the grocery,

you may notice many bags of sugar that are labeled

“100% Pure Cane Sugar.” Most likely, this sugar was

refined using bone char. In contrast, sugar in bags

labeled “100% Pure Beet Sugar” was never passed

through a bone char filter.

Questions soon arise about sugar labeled, for

instance, “Granulated Sugar.” There is no way to tell

based on this phrase alone whether the sugar had been

filtered through bone char. The phrase “100% Sugar”

is equally ambiguous. Supermarket chains that purchase

sugar from a large sugar company but label it as their

own may not indicate which type of sugar it is.

Brown sugar is made by adding molasses to refined

white sugar. Therefore, companies that use bone char

to produce their white sugar will also use it to produce

their brown sugar. The same is true for confectioner’s

sugar, which is refined white sugar with added cornstarch.

Invert sugar is filtered through the use of bone

char. Fructose may but does not typically involve a

bone-char filter. Molasses, turbinado, demerara, and

muscovado sugars are never filtered through bone char.

Evaporated cane juice is also bone-char free. If in doubt

about any product, concerned consumers should direct

inquiries to the manufacturer.

For now, The VRG suggests that those who wish to

avoid bone char processing altogether purchase organic

sugar and consume foods that list only organic sugar

or evaporated cane juice as sweeteners. Eating prepackaged

foods and/or restaurant foods that contain refined

white sugar will always be questionable.

When discussing ingredients, information changes

and mistakes can be made. Please use your own best

judgment about whether a product is suitable for you.

We encourage everyone to be reasonable and realistic.

Use this article with other information to assist you in

making personal decisions, not as a standard that you

or others may not be able to achieve. Don’t let smaller

issues get in the way of larger dietary or ethical decisions.

Always be encouraging to others and do the best you

can, taking into account that neither you nor the

world is perfect.

NOTES FROM THE VRG SCIENTIFIC DEPARTMENT

VRG Nutrition Advisor Reed Mangels, PhD, RD, was interviewed for stories about vegetarian diets in Newsweek,

the Scranton Times, and L.A. Parent magazine. In addition, she has been interviewed numerous times for the

For the Love of Produce show on KSVY Radio in Sonoma, California. Reed and VRG Nutrition Advisor Suzanne

Havala Hobbs, DrPH, RD, with vegetarian nutritionist Ginny Messina, MPH, RD, submitted a letter to the

New York Times concerning the Times publishing an op-ed in which the writer made numerous erroneous and

misleading claims about vegetarian and vegan diets for children. VRG’s Food Service Advisor Nancy Berkoff, RD,

EdD, CCE, is celebrating the seventeenth year of her syndicated Healthy Eating column. The weekly column covers

the healthy aspects of eating a plant-based diet.

VRG’s Food Service Advisor Nancy Berkoff, RD, EdD, CCE, has been working with Sharon and Don Christensen

and their Vegan Culinary Academy (veganculinary@mchsi.com), located in the Napa Valley, CA, to develop new

courses. The VCA offers consulting to health care facilities that would like to add vegan meals to their menus,

has private vegan chefs, and offers long- and short-term vegan culinary classes.

Jeanne Yacoubou is Research Director for The Vegetarian

Resource Group and holds master’s degrees in philosophy,

chemistry, and education. She wrote Vegetarian Certifications

on Food Labels — What Do They Mean? for VJ Issue 3, 2006.

20 Issue Four 2007 VEGETARIAN JOURNAL

Vegan Cooking

UPDATE WHERE THE SUGAR INDUSTRY STANDS TODAY The sugar industry’s practices haven’t changed much over the past decade. The same large American cane sugar companies that were operating then are still in business and have bought out smaller operations in the United States. There are a few small cane sugar companies, but there are really only two large cane sugar enterprises–Imperial/Savannah Foods (Dixie Crystal) and Florida Crystals. Florida Crystals owns American Sugar Refining (Domino Foods) as well as the C&H Sugar Company, both of which now call bone char “natural charcoal.” source  http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Is+your+sugar+vegan%3f+An+update+on+sugar+ 

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